American League Game Capsules

Houston, TX (Sports Network) - The Houston Astros' 4,000th regular-season
win in franchise history came in their American League debut. Rick Ankiel hit
a three-run homer and the Astros beat the Texas Rangers, 8-2, to kick off the
2013 MLB season on Sunday night. Houston, led by rookie manager Bo Porter,
had played its first 51 seasons (1962-2012) in the National League. The
last time a team swapped leagues and divisions came back in 1998, when the
Milwaukee Brewers left the AL Central for its similarly named NL counterpart.
Justin Maxwell went 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored for the Astros,
who capped their National League run a year ago with a second straight 100-
plus loss season. Jose Altuve and Matt Dominguez each had an RBI for the
victors. Houston starter Bud Norris (1-0) gave up two runs on five hits
over 5 2/3 innings to pick up the win. The right-hander went 7-13 with a
4.65 ERA last season. Erik Bedard gave up just one hit over 3 1/3 innings to
record his first career save.